The Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition

Tamas Vesmas

Tamas Vesmas was born in Romania and began studying piano and composition under Professor Ella Philipp at the age of ten. His career as a soloist began at the age of fourteen with recitals and appearances with leading symphony orchestras throughout Romania. He continued his studies at the Bucharest Music Academy where he became a pupil of Florica Musicescu, Dinu Lipatti’s teacher. In 1962, he won the National Competition for Young Soloists in Bucharest. He then studied in Paris with Yvonne Lefébure and Monique de la Bruchollerie, both Professors at the Paris Conservatoire. In 1968, he was awarded the Gold Medal in the International Claude Debussy Competition in Paris after which he was invited to become Assistant Professor at the Music Academy in Bucharest.

As a concert pianist, soloist and conductor, Tamas Vesmas has performed in many of the world's major venues, including the Queen Elizabeth Hall's South Bank Piano Recital Series and the Wigmore Hall, at the Théatre des Champs-Elysées and the Salle Chopin-Pleyel. He is known in more than 25 countries and has played with such orchestras as: BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra, Bournemouth Sinfonietta, Ulster Orchestra, London Mozart Players, the Solistes de Paris, l'Orchestre National de Lille, l'Orchestre Philharmonique des Pays de la Loire, l'Orchestre Philharmonique de Montpellier, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and under such conductors as: Simon Rattle, Jean-Claude Casadessus, Janos Fürst, Harry Blech, Kurt Redel, Carlo Zecchi, Mark Elder and Erich Bergel.

Tamas Vesmas has often been invited to play at European Festivals, and his extensive chamber music experience has included partnerships with Nathan Milstein, György Pauk, Boris Bermann, Peter Frankl, Heinz Holliger, Boris Belkin, Mark Lubotsky and Cho-Liang Lin.

Tamas moved to New Zealand in 1983. He has often performed in the Chamber Music New Zealand concert series and has appeared with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and other orchestras. He was the founder and first Music Director of the Auckland Sinfonietta Chamber Orchestra. Tamas was founder and director of the Auckland International Piano Festival in 2006. Tamas Vesmas is currently Professor of Piano Studies and Chamber Music and Head of Keyboard Studies at the School of Music, University of Auckland.